This is a story close to my heart. I live at the Jersey Shore. Every June and July, female turtles creep from the bay and go in search of high ground to lay their eggs. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of them never make it. Their journey takes them across paved roadways, where many are squished. I’ve seen them.

Research by two young men show that a certain percentage of the turtle killings are intentional.

Nathan Weaver, a student at Clemson University placed a plastic turtle in the road near his campus. In the course of one hour, seven out of 267 vehicles, 2.62 percent, swerved in order to hit the turtle. Read:

A psychology professor quoted in the story explained the intentional killings as “the dark side of human nature.” He said,

“They aren’t thinking, really. It is not something people think about. It just seems fun at the time.”

I think the good professor is wrong. I think Weaver was observing sociopathic behavior. Experts estimate that 1 percent to 4 percent of the population are sociopaths. Well, the 2.62 percent of drivers who swerved in order to kill the turtles fit right into that range.

Mark Rober, a NASA engineer, conducted a similar experiment using a rubber turtle, snake and tarantula. He observed 1,000 cars, and 6 percent of of drivers intentionally ran over the animals.

Turtles were hit 1 percent of the time and snakes 1.8 percent—again tracking with the estimated number of sociopaths in society. Tarantulas, however, were hit the most, by far. If I were to interpret this, I’d guess that the tarantula-killers perceived them as dangerous.

51 Comments on "Who intentionally runs over turtles?"

Creampuff,
your boundaries have to be more than just physical. They have to be emotional too. He is punishing you by withholding love and attention. He is trying to control you by using your emotions. A normal person doesn’t do that. Only a controlling narcissist or spath would do that.

You’ve stayed 15 months too long. I’m sorry for your 32 years that you invested in him. I can relate with my 25.5 years of wasted life with spath. But I try not to think of it that way. I try to realize that I gained knowledge and wisdom that I most certainly wouldn’t have gained any other way.

In fact, these days, when I meet more evil people, I chalk it up to experience. By allowing myself to see people as they REALLY ARE, I grow in wisdom.

It seems to me that if he is behaving this way now, there were probably other things he has done to control you in the past 32 years. Maybe you just didnt’ notice? Or, like me, you thought it was okay because you thought men are just that way?

time to look out for YOU and what you want. Your happiness is waiting for you. Go get it.

Creampuff, it will NOT GET BETTER…THIS IS CLASSIC “PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE” and remember “passive-aggressive” is AGGRESSIVE…

You have two choices. AND ONLY TWO choices

1) live life the way it is being lived now
2) leave

I think you are right, I think he is trying to force you to leave and be the “bad guy” by leaving him…but what other choice do you have? #1–live life the way it is now…with him treating you worse than dirt.

Leaving is a big decision…it will require splitting assets and all that, as well as “what do you tell the neighbors?” The thing is that YOU have to make the decision of #1 or #2. You cannot control how he behaves, you can only decide if you want to put up with by living in the same house with him for the next 30 years with him acting this way?

I know this is a tough decision, Creampuff…you made the BIG hard choice when you went NC with her and with your P daughter…and this is the natural consequence when you are dealing with a HARD CORE ENABLER…your husband and my egg donor are a pair of a kind…both punishers if you don’t do what they want you to which is allow the psychopath to abuse you.

NC is my only option with ANYONE who enables the psychopath who abuses me. But YOU must decide for your self…what is behind DOOR #1 OR DOOR #2.

Louise,
argh! horrible, just horrible. You can’t even win the lottery without looking over your shoulder.

I think whomever cashed the check is the guilty party. Probably the evil wife?

You know, it behooves us to keep our personal and financial situation private. I wasn’t that way at first, but the last 10 years or so, I had begun to hide my financial situation from the spath. I really had no reason, it was just a feeling that I needed to keep things to myself.

He raged and demanded that I do a financial spreadsheet so he could know our exact status. I made up a fake one.

I know! This really broke my heart! I couldn’t believe when I read it and thought the same thing you did…whoever cashed the check much later must be the culprit. I have a feeling now that they know it was a murder that they will find out who it was. Thank God for the relative that pushed for a further investigation!

Creampuff,
When a couple marry,they become “one flesh”.Thus your feelings should be taken into consideration before those of offspring;especially ADULT offspring.It would be one thing if you were just being stubborn in your expectations.But it is REASONABLE to expect that we can TRUST the people we surround ourselves with.TRUST & RESPECT are ESSENTIAL qualities in any love relationship.

When a spouse treats you like dirt,it is time to make a serious self-examination.Why are you allowing it?I allowed it for too long,and my self-esteem took a beating!

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I married a con man

—a man who I now consider to be a sociopath. I didn't know anything about sociopaths when I said, "I do." Before you give away your love, your money or your life, read this website.—Donna Andersen, author of Lovefraud.com